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Graf, Muscle Milk take VIR pole with record lap

September 13, 2012

Klaus Graf and Muscle Milk racing took the pole for Saturday's ALMS race. He also set a track record. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Klaus Graf and Muscle Milk Pickett Racing cemented their place in the history books Friday at Virginia International Raceway. Graf set an all-time track record en route to pole position for Saturday’s VIR 240, the first race at the circuit for the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón.

His lap of 1 minute, 35.434 seconds (123.352 mph) bested the previous record: a 1:36.3 from a Benetton ex-Formula One car in 2004. Graf was 0.932-second quicker than Dyson Racing’s Guy Smith in the No. 16 Lola-Mazda LMP1 car that is running a flywheel KERS hybrid system for the first time this season.

“It feels good to set the track record here,” Graf said. “It is a beautiful facility. I think all of the drivers love the layout and variety, elevation changes and the technical feel. We had another half second but I hit the traffic wrong. It's hard to not be able to show exactly what you have, but we'll take the qualifying time.”

Graf, Luhr and the rest of the Muscle Milk team hope Saturday’s race marks the end of a two-race losing streak. The pairing lost at Road America by only 0.083-second after going down four laps early, and a broken gear actuator at Baltimore resulted in a third-place class finish there.

In GT, Johannes van Overbeek earned his and Extreme Speed Motorsports’ first ALMS pole position with a lap of 1:45.988 (111.069 mph) in the No. 01 Ferrari 458 Italia. The GT battle was its usual tight self with seven cars within 0.692 second.

“We had a great test here in June, and we came here with the same setup,” van Overbeek said. “The Patrón Ferrari is really tailor-made for this track. It's a pleasure to drive our car here. It speaks to the mid-engine package the Ferrari has. The car is good under braking and there are quite a few hard braking areas.”

Martin Plowman took the LMP2 pole position after another duel with Christophe Bouchut. Plowman, in the No. 37 Conquest Endurance Morgan-Nissan, set a lap of 1:38.043 (120.070 mph). He and David Heinemeier-Hansson will try for their third class-win of the season. If trends mean anything, then Saturday could be a good day for the duo. Conquest won the last two races in which Plowman won pole: at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport) and Road America.

Bouchut finished the session 0.422-second off Plowman’s pace. The two swapped fast laps eight times before Bouchut had consecutive offs that ruined his final laps in Level 5 Motorsports’ HPD ARX-03b. Luis Diaz was third in class at 1:39.093 (118.797 mph) in Level 5’s No. 95 entry.

The Prototype Challenge class featured another back-and-forth fight—this time a battle between four drivers. CORE autosport’s Colin Braun came out on top with a lap of 1:41.006 (116.548 mph) to earn pole position by the slimmest of margins, 0.001-second over Kyle Marcelli in Merchant Services Racing’s No. 8 car.

Braun won his second ALMS pole of the season in the No. 05 ORECA FLM09 he drives with Jon Bennett. They sit second in the class championship behind CORE teammate Alex Popow.

Damien Faulkner earned his fourth GT Challenge pole in five rounds and his fifth this season for Green Hornet Racing. He set a lap of 1:52.426 (104.709 mph) in the No. 34 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and topped second-place qualifier Jeroen Bleekemolen by 0.370-second in the latest battle between the two.